Couldn't set association for project. Check if file is writable. (After deleting plugin field)

Development Getting Started & Setup
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1

So I went to get rid of the ‘Substance’ plugin from my project.
I right clicked my ‘.uproject’ file, and deleted the ‘substance’ entry from plugins (using Notepad++). When I saved and went to load the project, It said something like “plugin entry should have a name”, I’m not exactly sure what it said… I just went and removed the whole line of text, including ‘plugins’. Next time it opened, it asked what editor version to use (never did this before), but I still clicked ‘4.8’. Anyways, when I clicked ‘OK’, it just said “Couldn’t set association for project. Check if file is writable.”

Here’s the ‘.uproject’ file opened up in Notepad++:

2

I noticed the missing bracket at the end, that still didn’t change anything.

1 Like
3

Hey HastagPulse-

If you add "Plugins": back to the .uproject then you will be able to get around the error and open the project.

As for removing the Substance plugin from the project, the best solution would be to simply disable the plugin so that the project is no longer using it.

Cheers

1 Like
4

Thanks for the reply, it worked! :smiley:
One question though, how do I remove the plug in completely? I believe the plug in is causing an “AutomationTool” error, stopping me from launching the project…

5

If you open the Epic Games Launcher there is an “Installed Plugins” link under the listed engine version in the Library tab. If the editor is closed you can click this link to remove any engine plugins. The next time the project is opened you will be told that the project requires the plugin and be prompted to download it. Selecting No allows you to disable the plugin entirely.

If you remove the plugin in this way it will also affect other projects that are using the plugin. If you need/want to use the plugin in another project you will have to reinstall it.

6

Thanks!. It works!.

7

I ran into the same problem… but I found it was that extra comma at the end causing the issue.

1 Like
8

I had the same problem, I had just forgotten to remove the comma at the end. You should have something like this:

{
“FileVersion”: 3,
“EngineAssociation”: “4.21”,
“Category”: “”,
“Description”: “”
}

1 Like
9

Listen to the error, " it’s not writable". Try to make an edit and it will ask if you want to make it writable, that’s your answer/solution. Try to build your project after that and it should work.

10

thank you, it’s working now :=)

11

My issue was that I was trying to comment out multiple lines, instead of removing the text from the .uproject file.

; This is a comment. It does not work in the .uproject file...DELETE THIS FULL LINE!

It seems it does not have the same behavior as a .ini file, and commenting out text doesn’t work.The fix was to remove the comment from the file.

12

Bump since this is a top google hit for the error "Couldn’t set association for project. Check the file is writeable”. Spaces in the top level directory name can cause this misleading error message.

For example:

“E:\Projects\MyGame” - generate project files works, no errors

“E:\Projects\My Game” - generate project files fails, with above error message

13

Just in case this is run into in 5.0 and someone gets stumped im attaching this too this thread sense its similar and produces the same error message just posting this here incase anyone has similar problems
Option A and B will Work don’t Leave something like C it will create this error message might have too copy it and past it in vscode visual studio notepad++ etc too see what im talking about with the format of it or just open your uproject file and compare but it wont keep everything parsed the way it should be

==============================================
Option A
{
“FileVersion”: 3,
“EngineAssociation”: “5.0”,
“Category”: “”,
“Description”: “”,
“Modules”: [
{
“Name”: “Project_Name”,
“Type”: “Runtime”,
“LoadingPhase”: “Default”
}
]
}

==============================================
Option B
{
“FileVersion”: 3,
“EngineAssociation”: “5.0”,
“Category”: “”,
“Description”: “”,
“Modules”: [
{
“Name”: “Project_Name”,
“Type”: “Runtime”,
“LoadingPhase”: “Default”
}
],
“Plugins” : [
{
“Name” : “PluginName”
“Enabled” : “True”
}
]
}

==============================================
Option C
{
“FileVersion”: 3,
“EngineAssociation”: “5.0”,
“Category”: “”,
“Description”: “”,
“Modules”: [
{
“Name”: “Project_Name”,
“Type”: “Runtime”,
“LoadingPhase”: “Default”
}
],
“Plugins” : [
}
]
}

2 Likes
14

None of the solutions here made any difference for me. The solution was to right click the .uproject file and uncheck " only"

15

Uncheck read only- problem solved

2 Likes
16

{
FileVersion: 3,
EngineAssociation: “4.8”,
Category: ‘’',
Description: “”,

if you ever get this again Here is you mistake

its missing the closing bracket

change it to (FIX)

{
FileVersion: 3,
EngineAssociation: “4.8”,
Category: ‘’',
Description: “”,
}

17

Thanks, its work.

18

It worked for me.

19

Just ran into this, was due to a trailing comma and nothing to do with file permissions so the message should probably be tweaked to couldn’t parse or something unless it is really a permissions/readonly/locked issue.